The home arena of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies may get a new look.
Grizzlies executives and members of the Memphis City Council have reportedly discussed preliminary plans to renovate FedExForum with upgrades that could cost at least $350 million.
The upgrades would be part of $684 million in arena funding plans proposed by Mayor Jim Strickland, which seek to extend two existing taxes that fund FedExForum’s debt.
- The Grizzlies have discussed inverting the number of seats in the arena’s lower bowl.
- It would allow the Grizzlies to generate more revenue by having more premium seats.
- FedExForum is owned by the city of Memphis and Shelby County.
- The Grizzlies have a lease at FedExForum that expires after the 2028-29 season.
The Grizzlies — the 29th-most-valuable NBA franchise at $1.65 billion, per Forbes — are open to renovations after a promising 2021-22 season, which saw its 33-year-old general manager Zach Kleiman be named the NBA’s Executive of the Year — the youngest GM to win the award.
New Home
The Philadelphia 76ers are the latest NBA team to bypass renovations to build a new arena.
In July, the team announced the creation of 76 Devcorp — a development company responsible for building a proposed new $1.3 billion arena near the city’s Chinatown. The potential new facility would be entirely privately funded and could open for the 2031-32 season.
The 76ers are valued at $3.15 billion, ranking as the 10th-most valuable NBA team.
